I can't believe that the GMO food labeling proposition lost here in California. Lost by a HUGE margin.

I don't know what happened there, either. What happened CA? Aren't you supposed to be all the organic, liberal types? Then again, CA is the (genetically modified) bread basket, too.

Given that we failed to legalize marijuana or protect marriage equality, I'd say we're less liberal than people think.

Inland empire and orange county tends to ruin things.

Although conceptually, I think it should be legalized, I think I'd have to convince myself to vote for recreational use of marijuana. I don't like smoke of any kind so I'd hope it wouldn't increase my exposure.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

Hmn, this was the short wording apparently"Requires labeling of food sold to consumers made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways. Prohibits marketing such food, or other processed food, as 'natural.' Provides exemptions."

It was worded pretty clearly. I cannot understand why it did not pass. Perhaps some people thought the cost of food would go up if additional labeling was needed (not true..they get more than enough time to change the labels)

Also, there was quite a bit of pro prop 37 advertising as well. In fact, I say that I encountered more PRO stuff than CON on tv, local businesses etc.

CA is a huge agricultural state. I wonder if those interests were responsible for the outcome of 37 (i.e., voters whose livelihood is dependent on agriculture). On npr they were saying it was voted down because it was poorly crafted (too many exemptions, it penalized retailers, needs more federal oversight/legislation not just a sloppy CA prop etc). The major CA newspapers were against it for those reasons and also because it stigmatized GE crops. All the yes-on-37ers were saying, "no, it's just about a right to know" but I think that's really disingenuous. It was also meant to cast a negative light on all GMOs, and I think that's wrong. There's a lot of good that can come from GE foods.

I voted for 37 but I was pretty conflicted because of the reasons I mentioned to be against it. I think we can come up with a better way to inform people about food production (GMOs and beyond).

CA is a huge agricultural state. I wonder if those interests were responsible for the outcome of 37 (i.e., voters whose livelihood is dependent on agriculture). On npr they were saying it was voted down because it was poorly crafted (too many exemptions, it penalized retailers, needs more federal oversight/legislation not just a sloppy CA prop etc). The major CA newspapers were against it for those reasons and also because it stigmatized GE crops. All the yes-on-37ers were saying, "no, it's just about a right to know" but I think that's really disingenuous. It was also meant to cast a negative light on all GMOs, and I think that's wrong. There's a lot of good that can come from GE foods.

Most of the burden for ensuring that foods are properly labeled would fall not on producers but on retailers, which would have to get written statements from their suppliers verifying that there were no bioengineered ingredients — a paperwork mandate that could make it hard for mom-and-pop groceries to stay in business. Enforcement would largely occur through lawsuits brought by members of the public who suspect grocers of selling unlabeled food, a messy and potentially expensive way to bring about compliance.

So yeah, it would hurt small retailers more than Monsanto, and I'm not OK with that.

I'm not totally sure how I stand on GMO foods in general because while I think that in theory, GMO foods can actually be environmentally beneficial, I hate the fact that in practice, the bulk of the GMO crops out there are things like roundup-ready soy and corn.

Last edited by helbury on Wed Nov 07, 2012 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Barney Frank was in the house, not the senate. It's pretty amazing that marriage equality passed in 3 states and a ban was defeated in MN.

Yeah, I realized that before I came back here...I hate that my state (NC) passed a ban on same-sex marriage last year. When Obama won it in 2008, I thought we were actually getting more progressive. Then in 2010, NC was overtaken by Republicans in the state house and senate (first time in decades) and now we elected a Republican governor. I fear for the outcome, especially since I work at a community college and Republicans seem to love cutting education. [Community colleges here are already treated like the bottom of the barrel with universities and then public schools getting more funding per capita.]

_________________A bunny's a delightful habit, no home's complete without a rabbit.--Clare Newberry

I moved out of CA before the election, but I had intended to vote no on 37. I just think people need to realize that those who voted no weren't necessarily duped by confusing wording or misleading advertising. I have done a great deal of research on this issue and have simply come to a different conclusion than many folks. I just hate seeing everyone say how uninformed the people voted no are.

I just found out a friend of mine was told that she had to vote on every race and couldn't leave anything blank or her ballot wouldn't count! So she ended up voting for a Republican in one race (unopposed). And she was told this by an election judge and someone at the Dallas elections dept. They also told her that write-ins would make her vote "suspect". That is some shady shiitake.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

I just found out a friend of mine was told that she had to vote on every race and couldn't leave anything blank or her ballot wouldn't count! So she ended up voting for a Republican in one race (unopposed). And she was told this by an election judge and someone at the Dallas elections dept. They also told her that write-ins would make her vote "suspect". That is some shady shiitake.

Wow! Is she planning to report this? That is definitely shady.

_________________"One time I meant to send a potential employer a resume, but I accidentally sent them a bucket of puke!

Barney Frank was in the house, not the senate. It's pretty amazing that marriage equality passed in 3 states and a ban was defeated in MN.

Yeah, I realized that before I came back here...I hate that my state (NC) passed a ban on same-sex marriage last year. When Obama won it in 2008, I thought we were actually getting more progressive. Then in 2010, NC was overtaken by Republicans in the state house and senate (first time in decades) and now we elected a Republican governor. I fear for the outcome, especially since I work at a community college and Republicans seem to love cutting education. [Community colleges here are already treated like the bottom of the barrel with universities and then public schools getting more funding per capita.]

Obama voters helped the gay marriage ban pass in Virginia. Without the big increase in religious (mostly Southern Baptist) democrats, it never would have passed after Northern VA etc was factored in. But areas like Richmond that were blue landslides were also marriage ban landslides.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

I moved out of CA before the election, but I had intended to vote no on 37. I just think people need to realize that those who voted no weren't necessarily duped by confusing wording or misleading advertising. I have done a great deal of research on this issue and have simply come to a different conclusion than many folks. I just hate seeing everyone say how uninformed the people voted no are.

I moved out of CA before the election, but I had intended to vote no on 37. I just think people need to realize that those who voted no weren't necessarily duped by confusing wording or misleading advertising. I have done a great deal of research on this issue and have simply come to a different conclusion than many folks. I just hate seeing everyone say how uninformed the people voted no are.

Perhaps some people thought the cost of food would go up if additional labeling was needed (not true..they get more than enough time to change the labels)

Proposed cost was never about the ink and paper, its about supply chain management trackign and increased product segregation...the same thing that drives up production costs for some specialty crops and organic

Quote:

Since the opposition to prop 37 wasn't just Big Food, but also nearly every major scientific organization in the country, I'm not surprised that it failed.

+1

Also congrats to CO & WA on having one more basic freedom, I'm really glad for them.